In the year 2039 the creator of the world’s largest interactive online simulation, OASIS, dies a very rich man. However, he has named no heirs to hisIn the year 2039 the creator of the world’s largest interactive online simulation, OASIS, dies a very rich man. However, he has named no heirs to his fortune. Instead, in his video will, he sets a task to the people of the world. There is an Easter egg hidden somewhere within the vast universes of OASIS. In order to find it, players must find three keys and three gates. He leaves a clue to the first key and immediately a frenzy begins as the winner stands inherit not only OASIS, but the hundreds of billions of dollars the man had. For five years no one can even find the first key, until high school student Wade Watts gets very, very lucky, triggering a frantic race.

Throughout the book of Ready Player One readers are able to experience the vast, intricate and odd world of OASIS, a place both wonderful (there’s a Whedonverse!) and unreal. But at the same time we are introduced to an Earth that is a dismal place, ravaged by wars, with high unemployment, incredible numbers of homeless and a money-grubbing evil corporation, people are escaping into OASIS more and more simply so they don’t have to face reality.

Ernest Cline has managed to create two very interesting and unique worlds, and the clues and the hints the egg hunters (or “gunters”) are given to find the keys and gates are detailed and interesting. The journey through OASIS, the race against other gunters, Wade’s realizations about the world, and the antagonist of the evil corporation IOI all combine for a great read.

However, this book had some pretty big flaws, the main one being pacing. The middle of the book is a real killer. There is a lull between passing the first gate and finding the second key. Wade falls into a funk, he’s depressed, he’s wasting time, he can’t concentrate on the game and overall I lost interest a little myself. Then the pace picks up frantically as after the second key is found, the second gate is quickly passed and the third key is found even faster. It seemed very uneven to me.

Another thing is the ’80s references. OASIS’s creator loved the ’80s because he was a teenager then, so he makes all sorts of references to games and shows and music of that time in a journal he left behind. As a result, the world becomes obsessed with old games like Adventure, television shows like Schoolhouse Rock and bands like Rush, believing, correctly, that knowledge of his obsessions would help them find the Easter egg. I always find making references to current or past pop culture a cop out. In this book it make sense, it really does, in order for the gunters to figure out the keys, but I quickly got ’80s fatigue at all the name dropping and references and factoids. Technologically, the world in which Ready Player One takes place has progressed, but it stymied culturally, never advancing and in fact actually backtracking to, of all decades, the ’80s.

The book raises the interesting concept that, like the Internet, you could be anyone in OASIS. So I enjoyed learning a little more about the people behind the avatars. (view spoiler)[Although it was disappointing that the person we learn the least about was Art3mis. We get very interesting back stories with Shoto and Aech, but Art3mis, the love interest, never really gets developed much. When they meet the focus is on the mark on her face, to prove the point that physical appearance doesn’t matter to Wade, he fell in love with her long ago in OASIS. But we don’t get any background on her. She’s a college student who lives in Canada. That’s about it. Whereas Shoto explains his backstory with Daito, how they met and why they felt like they were brothers. Aech explains her troubles with her mother and why she chose to be a Caucasian male in OASIS despite being a black female in real life. (hide spoiler)]

Ready Player One was a unique and interesting read with a few issues that didn’t detract too much from the overall story.["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>...more

I know a lot of people are probably sick to death of angels (the new vampires and werewolves). But the angels in Angelfall are not the angels of UnearI know a lot of people are probably sick to death of angels (the new vampires and werewolves). But the angels in Angelfall are not the angels of Unearthly (which I loved). They aren't normal people or kind to humans or guardian angels or anything like that. These are biblical angels. These are Old Testament/Torah, wrath of god, angels that destroyed cities like Sodom and Gomorrah. Susan Ee has legit angel and bible lore (I'm not religious, but I did go to Catholic school) and I was absolutely giddy about that. (Nephilim are referenced correctly! Gabriel is the messenger of God and brings about the beginning of the apocalypse! Uriel has ties to hell!)

The book takes place after cities of the U.S. have already been destroyed when angels came down to Earth to wreak fire and brimstone. In life after modern amenities are gone, people keep one eye on the skies to hide from angels, gangs roam the streets and Penryn (your typical tough female lead, like The Hunger Games' Katniss, Graceling's Katsa or Hollowmen's Remy) watches as her little sister is grabbed by an angel who flies away with her. And the only chance she has of getting Paige back is the injured, wingless angel she finds on the street. Raffe is willing to bring Penryn to the angels only because she has his wings and it's his hope that they can be reattached.

I love lawless end-of-the-world-type societies, so Angelfall hit the mark for me. I like books that are light on the romance, but hint that there is actual build up of a relationship. I just really liked this book. I love underground rebellions (like Neville Longbottom and Dumbledore's Army in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows).

And I absolutely loved that Penryn's mother is legitimately crazy. She's schizophrenic, sees things, does things that only make sense to her but seem to have no rational reasoning and is just damn fascinating to read about. A woman like that would normally be in the care of professionals. Instead, given the end of the world and everything, she's free to roam the streets and right now the real world looks as horrifying and scary as what she's always pictured in her head. And she is actually more dangerous than most people because of how unpredictable and out of touch with reality she is.

I think the only reason Angelfall didn't get 5 stars from me was because the story is the classic "younger sibling was taken by supernatural creatures and I have to get him/her back with the help of one of these supernatural creatures that I don't trust all that much" (although the end is different (view spoiler)[ when you consider the fact that Paige has been turned into a little monster! I can't wait to see how that plays out (hide spoiler)]). Lastly, it's written in first person POV, and I'm honestly getting so sick of that. There's something about first person POV that I never really liked and the more YA novels I read that are written like that, the less patience I have for it.

Overall, this was an amazing book, a fascinating read and has planted the seeds for a really great series.["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>...more

Alas, Babylon really shows an amazing look into what American life would have been like if Russia had sent nukes during the Cold War. Admittedly, I thAlas, Babylon really shows an amazing look into what American life would have been like if Russia had sent nukes during the Cold War. Admittedly, I thought it was a rather optimistic look at life, since the people of Fort Repose, Florida, seem to get rather lucky at the things they find, at the fact that the wind blows just right so they can avoid the fallout and that they live on a river that essentially feeds the main characters throughout the book.

We don't really get much of a look at what is happening in the rest of the country until the very end, because communications are down and whatever is working is reserved specifically for special defense communications.

All in all, I thought the end of the book had a very odd message. It almost seemed as if what we were to take away was that once modern amenities were all taken away from them, the people of the book found their lives fulfilling because they had to fend for themselves in a way that they never had to their whole lives....more

This book blew me away and having finished it and run the gauntlet with the characters I am exhausted. I am in absolute awe how everything - and I doThis book blew me away and having finished it and run the gauntlet with the characters I am exhausted. I am in absolute awe how everything - and I do mean everything - that had been mentioned in previous books all tied together for the grand finale. It's amazing and I can't think properly and I think I just need to sleep on it so I can better appreciate how well crafted this trilogy was.

There are few words for how much I have enjoyed reading the first two Mistborn books. There’s something about the characters that feel so real to me.There are few words for how much I have enjoyed reading the first two Mistborn books. There’s something about the characters that feel so real to me. I think the first book was an easier read mostly because this one has a lot of politics and there are multiple factions to follow and keep track of. And yet, even while being in a fantasy world, filled with magic and creatures, there is something very real about the struggles and the conflicts.

And the climax of this novel was insane. There is so much going on, and we get points of views from so many different characters, and yet it was all easy to follow. The first book was primarily (or exclusively, I can’t remember) told through Kelsier and Vin. In this book we get chapters from just about every main character.

Loved this book, loved how the characters grew and all were explored a little more, and even the battles. I often find battles boring to read because I’d much rather just watch it, but I loved reading these fights.

Considering how this second one ended, I can’t wait to see how it all gets resolved in the next book....more

A remarkable amount of work went into writing this novel so that it really felt like the reader is holding a factual account of events. Grahame-SmithA remarkable amount of work went into writing this novel so that it really felt like the reader is holding a factual account of events. Grahame-Smith cleverly uses quoted passages from Lincoln’s diary, from speeches he gave, from correspondences, etc. The care put into this novel is very much the same work one would put into a biography or a research paper. This impressed me very much.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter isn’t quite as silly as one would think (other than the idea that our president was out hunting vampires in his youth). In fact, this novel seamlessly weaves vampires into slavery and the Civil War in a way that is almost realistic. I, of course, am not a history buff and wouldn’t be able to point out any obvious problems.

The vampires here are not Twilight vampires (not that I thought they would be since Lincoln is decapitating them left and right), but neither are they like the vampires from The Passage, which are more uncontrollable animal than human. Instead, they’re more like Anne Rice’s vampires in Interview With the Vampire. There are the good ones like Louis. And then there are the Lestats. Actually, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter has a very big resemblance to Interview in that they both start with the vampire contacting a human to basically publish the story.

For me, this book begins to drag when it was light on the vampire hunting and heavy on the politics. But then, I am just not very interested in politics. For others, this will continue to be engaging. Since I wasn’t as interested, there was a lull for me when Lincoln becomes senator, then president and the Civil War begins.

This book was good, not great, and it definitely didn’t live up to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies for me. In all fairness though, I liked the original source material for that quite a bit even before the zombies (which I have a particular weakness for) were added....more

Prediction August 2011: My only concern stems from this one line: "and wonders if she may be falling in love again." EDIT: the blurb has since changedPrediction August 2011: My only concern stems from this one line: "and wonders if she may be falling in love again." EDIT: the blurb has since changed.

I'm predicting the dreaded upcoming storyline. Lena is now on her own and thinks Alex is dead. She meets up with some people in the Wilds, and starts to fall in love with one of the guys. Then, toward the end of the book, she finds out that Alex is still alive and OMG MAJOR CONFLICT OF EMOTIONS. Lena and the others decide they have to try and save Alex. Cue the next book in the series, which will be super heavy on the love triangle angst.

Review:So I've finished the book and overall I was rather pleased with it. The format of the story was not what I was expecting. I really enjoyed that it wasn't told linearly. Instead, the chapters alternate between Now and Then. The Then chapters pick up directly after the events of Delirium. Lena has escaped into the woods and she's injured and alone. The Now chapters are six months in the future. Lena has been with the Invalids in the Wilds and now she is living in one of the cities, pretending she is cured, but really working for the resistance.

However, some aspects of this book were a little predictable: (view spoiler)[the fact that Tack gave her all that stuff and was acting weird just made it obvious to me that they knew she was going to be captured. I hadn't figured out the extent of it all, but I wasn't all that surprised by the big reveal. Also, the fact that she and Julian (as soon as he was introduced I knew he was going to be the object of affection) fell in love was not at all surprising. Furthermore, I knew Alex was coming back. He's different though, changed by the Crypts, so that should be interesting. But not if he's going to be a d-bag to her and yet still have feelings for her and she'll still be torn despite the fact that he's acting cruelly toward her (like Wanda in The Host. (hide spoiler)]

What I liked about this book was the fact that Lena's role changes. In the first book she is one of the believers in the cure and we get to see her perspective slowly change because of Alex. In this book she's acting in the role of Alex because she is pretending to be cured and she is changing the mind of someone else.

Based on how the book ended, I'm dreading some of the things that have to be worked out in the next book, but I've really enjoyed the first two, so I'm going to give Requiem the benefit of the doubt.["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>...more

Yeah, I loved this one. Somehow, it’s even better than the first one. The characters get explored a little more, and I’ve decided that I want to persoYeah, I loved this one. Somehow, it’s even better than the first one. The characters get explored a little more, and I’ve decided that I want to personally know each and every one of the team. They might all be wanted criminals and some have trying personalities, but their interactions with one another are so great and believable, that I want to be part of that team. Basilard doesn’t even speak yet I always enjoyed his interactions with Akstyr. I’m a sucker for good relationship building. In the first book, Maldynado = Finnick from The Hunger Games, for me. By the end of this book, that’s not really the case anymore. He’s now separated in my mind from Finnick (not that I ever had a problem with it, because I loved Finnick).

Buroker does something different with the storytelling in this book. While The Emperor’s Edge mainly focuses on Amaranthe (with occasional Sespian chapters), in Dark Currents, she splits the book between Amaranthe and Books. She has said that each book she writes in the series will use a member of the Emperor’s Edge team as the secondary character to Amaranthe’s chapters. I love this concept. There’s no denying that Amaranthe is the main character, but this will allow all of the others to become fully fleshed. I can’t wait to see what Maldynado’s chapters will be like. I’m interested to see what goes on Sicarius’ head, but I have a feeling that might be saved for last. But Basilard is next, and considering what we learn about him (and Sicarius) in this book, I think that makes sense.

My only complaint plotwise, is that the final confrontation with Amaranthe and the giant, dangerous beasts, is a little like the one at the end of the first book. Where Amaranthe is the bait and she has to lure the beasts to where Maldynado is waiting with a contraption to take them down.

And the biggest disappointment for me (but it didn’t detract at all from my enjoyment of the book. It was just something that I thought about afterward) was that Sespian doesn’t show up at all in this book. Although, I did enjoy that there was a rather serious conversation between Sicarius and Amaranthe about the fact that the emperor clearly has a puppy dog crush on her and he’ll always hate and distrust Sicarius. It’s something that needs to be addressed. (view spoiler)[I want Sicarius and Amaranthe to get together, but I wondered throughout the book about how it would work. Morally, I mean. Sicarius is trying to make a good impression on his son. Getting together with the girl your son likes and then expecting him to be happy to see you is not a good plan. I’m glad this was brought up by Sicarius. In most love triangles the two men don’t like each other very much. They’re usually enemies or they were just never friends. In this book, they are enemies, but not from Sicarius’ perspective. That’s his freaking son(hide spoiler)].

There are supposed to be six books total in this series. Next one, please!["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>...more

For me, Interworld is to Neil Gaiman's body of work what Cars is to Pixar's body of work. Perhaps it's a pretty decent book, but I have such high hopeFor me, Interworld is to Neil Gaiman's body of work what Cars is to Pixar's body of work. Perhaps it's a pretty decent book, but I have such high hopes for anything Gaiman that I read, that this was a huge disappointment.

While the idea for Interworld is interesting, I think it suffers because it was written for younger readers and so Gaiman's writing is stifled. This world (or worlds, I suppose) could have been really deeply explored and the story expanded. As it is now, Interworld feels rushed and unfinished.

And the way it's told is a letdown. I felt like Joey was telling me the story after the fact. I didn't ever feel like I was being swept up in the storytelling....more

I just ... this book killed me. Martin has this way of crushing all hope. And I say that with all praise. He doesn't pull any punches and horrible, hoI just ... this book killed me. Martin has this way of crushing all hope. And I say that with all praise. He doesn't pull any punches and horrible, horrible things happen in this book. But that being said, it's not all doom and gloom. There are certain characters that give you hope, especially at the Wall. Those guys are the best. And I love that the characters constantly evolve and change. We see how war makes for strange bedfellows, how people's morals are tested and best of all we see who rises above and who falters.

I'm so glad I have the next book handy. I'm sure I'll devour A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons, but I don't know how I'm going to wait once I finish them.

(view spoiler)[I hated Catelyn, so there's no sadness from me there. But I was devastated to see what happened to Robb. And then to hear what they did to his body afterward? That was one of the most horrifying things I read and I both dread and look forward to seeing if they actually show his body with Grey Wind's crowned head sewn on in the show. (hide spoiler)]["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>...more

In the second book of A Song of Ice and Fire we get to see some of our characters flourish, while others begin to sink into despair. It's a nice contrIn the second book of A Song of Ice and Fire we get to see some of our characters flourish, while others begin to sink into despair. It's a nice contrast, especially since we have POVs from all sides of the fighting.

One of the interesting things about this book is that because so many of the characters are no where near one another, sometimes we have to rely on the chapter we're currently reading to find out new information. And sometimes that information isn't entirely reliable because it's based on rumors or just flat out lies. So it's interesting to actually get the characters POV without knowing the truth until a chapter or two later.

As a huge fan of the Lord of the Rings books, I went into George R.R. Martin's series with incredibly high hopes. Thankfully, I have yet to be disappointed. These books have everything I loved about LotR - the huge cast, the various points of view, characters whose trustworthiness is unknown, the journey and the character development - but Martin's books have a gritty realism to them that LotR sort of avoided for the most part. Sometimes the grittiness is a little much for me (I get it, everyone wants to rape every woman they ever come across and usually they want to rape each woman multiple times in a humiliating ways).

But to sort of, kind of, not entirely counter the overwhelmingly horrible acts done to women, we have some pretty kickass women (which LotR was sorely lacking with the lone exception of Eowyn), such as Arya, Brienne, Meera, even creeper Theon's sister Asha. Even, loathe as I am to compliment her, Cersei....more

The problem with this book, is that it took far too long to get into anything really interesting. Until I got more than halfway through this book I had to deal with characters who are just too witty and have a quip for everything. Also, ALL of the journalists have this sort of demeanor. So while Rick is slightly different from Georgie and Shaun, and Buffy is different from them all, they all have the same sense of humor and respond the same way in situations with annoying and sarcastic comments or a witty rejoinder.

Also, I didn't care for Georgia's first person POV (view spoiler)[although, since it was first person POV, I didn't expect her to die and for the perspective to switch to Shaun (hide spoiler)].

The so-called conspiracy was only sort of interesting. It wasn't a shocker and it wasn't nearly as big as I kind of expected it to be, so overall that was a letdown after the build up for it.

Lastly, and this is just my own annoyance since I am a journalist, at the beginning of the book Georgia says that bloggers became respected during the outbreak because no traditional news media sources wanted to cover it. Really? There's a ZOMBIE OUTBREAK and NO media outlets want to cover it? CNN would be running constant footage from peoples' cell phones. Fox would be speculating on how it was the left's fault. Anderson Cooper would be out in the field. These are 24/7 news channels. OF COURSE they're going to cover this! I just ... it made absolutely no sense. I can understand how she could have argued that traditional media broke down in the face of the outbreak and subsequent years because travel was more difficult, there were quarantine zones, etc, and that led to the rise of blogging as the main form of reporting, but not that the traditional outlets just IGNORED it.

Overall, I don't think I'll be continuing this series. Which is unfortunate, because there are only so many good zombie novels out there. This is not one of them. It's not because the zombies made limited appearances, I didn't care about that, it's that the rest of the story wasn't interesting enough to make up for the lack of zombies.

Oh, and this has no bearing on how I felt about the book, but exactly where was After the End Times getting its revenue from? How were they paying the dozens of people who ran the site and wrote for it? I'm not sure how many people they employed (say 20 admins, tech people and writers?) or how much they paid ($20,000 a year?) but overall that's still a lot of money that the site has to make ($400,000 just to pay salaries, plus overhead (the vans, computer equipment, server space, etc.) and they need to be making let's ballpark $600,000 to break even a year. I'm sure the site rankings play into it somehow, but where is the money coming from? Who is supplying it?["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>...more

In Genesis, we meet young Anaximander, who is enduring questioning on the topic of her choice in an attempt to gain entry into the prestigious AcademyIn Genesis, we meet young Anaximander, who is enduring questioning on the topic of her choice in an attempt to gain entry into the prestigious Academy. Through the questions presented to Anax and her carefully worded answers the reader learns about how a devastating plague ravaged the world and a small society survived by completely cutting itself off from the outside world. Of particular interest to Anax is the figure Adam Forde. We learn about Adam's importance as if the story is the center of an onion and we need to peel back the layers to slowly unveil the true meaning of this story.

Genesis is not an easy read. There is a lot of philosophical discussion, particularly when we look at one of Adam’s interactions. These philosophical discussions and arguments become quite important for the end of the story we are being told. And the end of this story is delivered with a punch. This is a book that I believe needs to be read again in order to truly appreciate the ending.

Genesis is a quick read but it is not easy material, and that makes it all the better.

Some thoughts about the very end of the book, so major spoilers ahead. (view spoiler)[I find it interesting that even the robots have their own religious founding in a sense. There is Adam and Art who represent Adam and Eve. It is Adam, though the infects Art and brings about the virus (equivalent to Eve eating the fruit and giving it to Adam). This is interesting because men dominate women throughout the Bible and history and yet it is the woman - whom men would consider the lesser of the two - who brings about a cataclysmic event.

Now it is the human, the lesser and flawed of the two that brings about the mutations in certain robots, something they are still trying to stamp out years and years later (I believe they even refer to it as original sin). But without Adam Art would never have been able to send out his programming and thus begin the war between robots and humans. They even refer to this whole episode as their Genesis. I found it interesting that although they are robots and probably have no need for religion and faith, they still use terms from religion and their history mirrored a religious story. (hide spoiler)]["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>...more

The beginning of this book worried me. I thought that Scott Lynch, in an attempt to outdo the first book, was trying to do too much. There seemed to bThe beginning of this book worried me. I thought that Scott Lynch, in an attempt to outdo the first book, was trying to do too much. There seemed to be a dozen storylines, a dozen lies. And then, just as I started to get a handle on it, we left behind everything we expected the book to be about so we could go in another direction.

Despite my concerns, this is a really great book. I don't believe I liked it as much as the first one, but what I liked about this one was the character relationships. As the last two left of the Gentleman Bastards, Locke and Jean are closer than ever because they only have each other. And while normally Locke sees everyone as people to potentially con and use in his schemes, there are a few real relationships he makes with people.

I really like that in these books Lynch is constantly expanding the world. In the first we're limited to Camor, but in this book there are a number of cities and countries and islands that are introduced. I like seeing the world evolve and expand and I can't wait to see where Lynch brings us next time.

There was one thing that I was really hoping would get tied up and that was the issue with the Bondsmagi, but I'm going to assume that gets addressed in the next book (is it March yet?)...more

**spoiler alert** After everything, I think it's safe to say that I found the end of the book thoroughly unsatisfying. All of the characters and the c**spoiler alert** After everything, I think it's safe to say that I found the end of the book thoroughly unsatisfying. All of the characters and the conflict and the side plots and ... all of it seems to have been for nothing in my opinion. I was so disappointed in the ending that I feel like I'm being generous with 3 stars, but the truth is that most of the book was a good read. Except for the fact that I feel like it all had no purpose in the end....more

I didn't think it would be possible for me to like Revelation as much as I liked Transformation, but that's only because the bar had been set so highI didn't think it would be possible for me to like Revelation as much as I liked Transformation, but that's only because the bar had been set so high in my opinion. And I didn't like Revelation as much. To be honest, this was sort of a disappointment following Transformation. The plot of Revelation is too convoluted. One of the beautiful things about Transformation was its fairly straight forward plot: Demon in Aleksander threatens him and if left alone threatens the world, so they have to learn to trust one another and fix the problem. This simple plot led to some wonderful character development and a real relationship between Seyonne and Aleksander.

With how complicated the plot of Revelation is there are so many red herrings before we finally actually get to the crux of the story. But once she gets us there, Berg managed to once again create an interesting story with great characters. Unfortunately, it takes more than half of the novel to get there. The first half had its moments, but it really suffered with Seyonne jumping around, first doing one thing, which led to another and another and another until finally we find out what the true story is.

One of the things that annoyed me from the beginning (and it shows up again later on) is the relationship between Seyonne and his wife, Ysanne. For supposedly being in love, they don't trust one another and they barely have a loving relationship at all. We're constantly told by Seyonne that he loves her, but we never actually see that love in action. In fact, more often we see the opposite. Catrin said it best:"How can you love one another so dearly, yet believe such ill of one another?"

I have hope that the last book will at least improve upon this one even if it's not quite equal to Transformation.

I believe it’s a big risk to tell a story by alternating between multiple characteReally 3.5 stars.

I received this is as a free ARC through NetGalley.

I believe it’s a big risk to tell a story by alternating between multiple characters with their separate storylines. Sure, they’re eventually going to connect and combine, but there’s the potential that one of the stories is going to be far more interesting than the others. For me, that’s what happened with Leviathan Wakes.

The overall story is interesting and the history of how we expanded out into space and the tension between the Belters and the Earthers and the Martians was all explained nicely and fairly early in the book, which was absolutely necessary. Without that being set up properly, this book would have been entirely too confusing and things wouldn't have been able to escalate as quickly as they do later on.

My problem with this book was that for the majority of it I almost didn’t care about Miller’s storyline. I saw why it was important, I knew how it was going to tie in, but considering how much more interesting the plot surrounding Holden and his crew was, I couldn’t wait to get through Miller’s boring problems and back to the real action.

Even when Miller and Holden cross paths I was still more interested in Holden and his crew. I’m just not entirely sure what it was about the character that didn’t keep my interest.

Typically this would have been 4 to 4.5 stars - good read, interesting characters, action, complex storyline and (view spoiler)[zombies (hide spoiler)]. But the fact that I was skimming large portions because I found one of the main storylines so much less interesting than the other was a serious issue for me.["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>...more

I think I would typically rate The Host at 3.5 stars, but because I was so surprised at how much I liked it (and to be fair, I went in with really lowI think I would typically rate The Host at 3.5 stars, but because I was so surprised at how much I liked it (and to be fair, I went in with really low expectations), I’m bumping it up to 4 rather than down to 3. I really feel like I have to justify why I liked this book, especially since I loathed Twilight so much.

In my opinion, this is a huge improvement over the schlockfest that was Twilight. There is an actual, interesting story to tell that is beyond a love triangle (although there is a love triangle present: more on that later). And it’s a rather unique story too. Meyer proves to be a competent storyteller, even if her writing leaves a lot to be desired at times. She still has her sentences that aren’t quite sentences, which annoys the crap out of me. She still has her creepy, WTF scenes that masquerade as her idea of romance and love, and make me wonder what goes on in this woman’s head.

One of my biggest complaints, however, is that Meyer still avoids actual confrontation and loves the fluffy, happy, Disney ending. (Hell, even Disney might be more hardcore considering it’s not afraid to do things like kill off Mufasa or throw in a montage of a married couple’s life that includes me bawling for five minutes when we learn the wife can’t have children and then she DIES and it’s so depressing. Disclosure: I love Disney and Pixar). The whole book is leading up to a confrontation between Wanda and Seeker. And what we get is Wanda being a sad sack and then coming up with the perfect plan that fixes everything. (view spoiler)[Yes, Wes dies. But he dies off screen and to be honest, who gives a crap? We barely knew Wes. He’s just someone who lives in the caves and happens to support Wanda. But he’s not vital, we see maybe three scenes with him. And yes, Walter dies. But it’s of cancer. No one can control that. It’s not the result of someone’s choices. And again, we barely knew him. (hide spoiler)]

Meyer broaches some interesting topics, specifically about humanity and the soul. We have to wonder just what makes us human. What makes us civilized? And what is it that makes a person who he or she is? Is it the body, the soul, personality, interactions, relationships to people, reactions to events? Furthermore, the book brings up interesting parallels of how countries would invade another and take over, enforcing their ideas on the natives. The whole justification by the souls (other than they can’t survive without a host) is that humans were too violent and they were killing the planet. So they came in and they made it better. They made people better and the world better. Of course this is all debatable, and it’s not really better for the humans if they are trapped in their own heads or if they disappear altogether.

This book was already incredibly long at more than 600 pages, but Meyer made a mistake in not giving details and explanations in the area that really needed it. Wanderer is placed in Melanie’s body and she quickly realizes that the host is not gone. Wanderer, who has been to eight different planets, is supposed to be pretty hot stuff among the souls. She’s strong and she’s confident that Melanie’s presence isn’t going to be a big deal.

Fast forward a few months, and we learn that perhaps Melanie is just stronger. We get a few memory/dreams and the adventure starts as Wanderer chooses to go search of Melanie’s brother Jamie and Jared, the man she loves. Wanderer, at this point, already has very strong feelings for the two and she doesn’t want any harm to come to them. I suppose it’s understandable, but I felt like Meyer copped out by not showing us the slow change in Wanderer as she gradually came to care for two men she’d never met simply through the memories of her host.

It’s like the insta-love problem. You skipped all of the relationship building, all of the turmoil, the INTERESTING stuff. Plus, considering how AWFUL Jared is to Wanderer for the first couple of months she's there, I just don't believe that she would still sort of love him even when she's afraid he's going to hit her (yes, this is a very real fear she has at times). But maybe if we saw the development of her feelings for Jared, I could better understand why those feelings remain despite her fear.

But Meyer also proves in this book that she’s capable of writing a believable, growing relationship: thus, the third aspect of the predictable love triangle. This is where things get tricky. Melanie, who is very much still there, loves Jared. Her body responds to Jared. Therefore, Wanderer (aka Wanda, now) also has very strong feelings and responses to Jared. But, enter Ian. Wanda slowly develops feelings for Ian, who has slowly developed feelings for Wanda (Melanie, for the record, is not happy about this because it's still her body ... so, creepy, when you think about it). Things aren’t insta-love for the two of them right off the bat. Instead, Ian is one of the many who (quite understandably) hates Wanda for what she is, doesn’t trust her and even tries to get at her so they can kill her and protect the group. But we can see when Ian starts to change his mind; when he realizes that there is more to Wanda than a parasite alien.

But Meyer has to ruin some well-written relationship development with her incredibly twisted idea of what is romantic (she did some fairly creepy things with Edward-Bella-Jacob. Hi, tent scene and time when Edward offers to pimp out his wife). There’s a lot of weird experimental kissing and a juvenile pissing contest between Ian and Jared that is full on ridiculous because these are grown ass men.

I know there has been talk of two other books, which I’ll probably read, but I think The Host stands fine just the way it is. I like the ending as it stands. It opens up the possibility of sequels (view spoiler)[(I would assume that they would then focus on the rebel cells of humans and taking back Earth.) (hide spoiler)] but they aren’t necessary, and to be honest, they will probably be a letdown unless done exactly right.["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>...more

It would be difficult to read the Percy Jackson books and not compare them to another series about a magical young, prepubescent boy. But Percy JacksoIt would be difficult to read the Percy Jackson books and not compare them to another series about a magical young, prepubescent boy. But Percy Jackson is sort of like an inverted Harry Potter. Harry tries to spend his whole life being invisible so Dudley and his friends won’t beat on him, whereas Percy, with his ADHD and various other issues, can’t help but act out. Like Harry, Percy finds answers to all of the weird happenings in his life when he discovers the truth of what he is and is brought to a place to train those like him. Only, where Harry Potter gets to live at Hogwarts during the school year and dreads summer, Percy dreads the school year and makes the choice to only attend Camp Half-Blood in the summer.

If I had read this book when it was first published I might have enjoyed it more. I’m a little older now, and much of The Lightning Thief was a little juvenile for me. I wasn’t a huge fan of the quest because it was a little repetitive: the group goes here, they run into trouble, they get out of trouble and move on to the next destination where they run into trouble and get out of trouble and then move onto the next destination…

I think I’ll still give The Sea of Monsters a try (eventually, but not right away) because I like the overarching plot that this book set up at the end (view spoiler)[that Kronos is a threat once again and trying to come back (hide spoiler)]. I’m also interested to see if both the writing and Percy mature a little as the books go on.["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>...more

These book was incredibly good. And then I got to about 90% in and my mind was simply blown. All of a sudden, everything that had happened previouslyThese book was incredibly good. And then I got to about 90% in and my mind was simply blown. All of a sudden, everything that had happened previously took on all new meanings. I never saw that coming and it was amazing....more

I was left with mixed emotions once I finished The Strain, mostly because I really, really did not like it at all for the first three-quarters of theI was left with mixed emotions once I finished The Strain, mostly because I really, really did not like it at all for the first three-quarters of the book. It was only until the end that I began to get interested, but by then I had little to no patience.

To me, The Strain felt like the poor man’s The Passage and feels sort of like the movie Contagion in which it tries to be incredibly scientific and look at the process of turning into a vampire like a disease. This is interesting initially, but quickly becomes boring and continues to go on for the majority of the book.

I had high hopes for this book because the beginning – the tale of Sardu, the dead plane landing in JFK – really caught me. But the book never really seems to go anywhere from there. Once the virus is out and it’s taking hold of Manhattan, we jump around from minor character to minor character just to see the various ways they are sucked dry and turned or find out what is happening. Eventually, you know longer care (I get it! No one is prepared!), because it has been to varying degrees over and over again.

And I didn't care at all about the characters who were all cliched caricatures. There's the good guy who has troubles (former alcoholic, divorced, going through a custody battle), the old, wise man who knows everything, the female love interest, the son who is so smart for his age, the ex-wife who has a weird, confusing relationship with the main guy, and her boyfriend who is an a-hole.

I'm pretty sure I’ll never go on to read The Fall because The Strain left me feeling so disappointed.

Instead, I think I’m going to go back and read The Passage again in anticipation of the sequel, The Twelve, coming out....more

If I could give this book 3.5 stars I would. I enjoyed it, but there is so very much to cover. There is no denying that Eleanor le Despenser led a verIf I could give this book 3.5 stars I would. I enjoyed it, but there is so very much to cover. There is no denying that Eleanor le Despenser led a very interesting life and that the times she lived in were tumultuous. However, I often found myself losing interest with the vast amounts of information that had to be imparted. A chapter could cover as little as a few months or as much as a year or two. There were sections of military campaigns, recaps of meetings and summaries of various other ongoings in the country at the time and these things slowed down the narrative for me.

All in all I enjoyed it was a fun and informative read. I didn’t know about some of Edward’s supposed homosexual tendencies, or really much else about his reign. I didn’t really care greatly for the majority of characters in this gigantic cast, but certain ones I truly liked (most of them were the children of characters introduced early on). And I was split on my feelings of Eleanor. She was, as Queen Isabella put it, “a fool” for about half the book. And constantly churning out babies. Although she had her interesting moments, (view spoiler)[particularly when she and the children were holed up in the Tower before and after Hugh's death (do we need spoiler alerts for history?) (hide spoiler)].

I didn’t love this book partly because while I enjoyed parts of it, others really failed to keep my interest.["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>...more

I had to put this book down for the weekend and give myself some space because the entire middle was dragging for me.Really a 3.5, but I rounded down.

I had to put this book down for the weekend and give myself some space because the entire middle was dragging for me. However, the beginning was interesting and the very end was great. I think the way the story was written sort of got tired after a while. It's similiar to what Markus Zusak did in The Book Thief, how Death was the narrator and he was conscious that he was telling a story, so he had a tendency to back track or interrupt himself. But where Zusak's writing was beautiful and Death was poetic, Jemisin's hand felt too heavy in those parts. It got tiresome for me and eventually it got a little too ... confusing and distracting.

But I enjoyed the ending so much and I'm interested in where the world goes from here now. The end of the book changes things so drastically from how they were for hundreds of years, that I want to see the aftermath....more

This book was an absolute gem. Somehow Hobson managed to take witchcraft, steampunk, the old West and various fictional religions and create a wonderfThis book was an absolute gem. Somehow Hobson managed to take witchcraft, steampunk, the old West and various fictional religions and create a wonderful adventure with two well-crafted but flawed characters.

Emily Edwards is just the time of plucky heroine I like. She’s a little crass, she can be improper and, best of all, she doesn’t become someone else when she finds love. And the thing I enjoyed was that as Emily fell in love with Dreadnought (coolest name ever), so did I. He was insufferable and incredibly obnoxious in the beginning. He was the guy who couldn’t help but correct you and rub your nose in the fact that he is smarter and richer than you. And falling in love with Dreadnought (for both the reader and Emily) is gradual, it creeps up on us and it’s utterly perfect.

The use of magic in this book was amazing. I liked how brutal and dangerous it could be. It brought a sort of realism to the story. And the villainous Caul was so very scary for me because he became less sane as the book goes on.

As a historical novel, I loved the little things Hobson put into the Native Star that helped me remember where they were in time. She mentions people (like President Ulysses S. Grant) and places (Central Park is being constructed in New York City) and it all served to help me really feel like I was back in time.

I really enjoyed the ride and can’t wait to read the next one. (The only reason it took me a week to read was because I was simultaneously reading A Song of Ice and Fire and those books are hard to put down!)...more

For roughly two-thirds of this book I didn't like Gen's personality. He was a mean person and just as the rest of the traveling party thought he was sFor roughly two-thirds of this book I didn't like Gen's personality. He was a mean person and just as the rest of the traveling party thought he was street scum, so did I. I don't know if I was supposed to think he was amusing or witty, but I simply thought he thought he was amusing and witty while really just being nasty, petty and a jerk.

But in The Thief, almost nothing is as it seems. People have hidden agendas, gods are secretly intervening (at least, I think they are even if it's never explicitly said) and you can't even trust the words you read. I liked that a lot of the characters that I felt were poorly developed at the beginning really evolved throughout the book.

I really enjoyed the story, the journey and the world building. There was some really interesting and unique mythology created and I felt Turner did a great job explaining the relationship of the three countries (Sounis, Eddis and Attolia) all while hinting at a common foe they all have (Medes - perhaps this will be what future books focus on? The three countries fighting against Medes?).

One rather large complaint I have, and what kept this from being 5 stars, is that the book is told in first-person (Gen's POV) and yet at the end of the book we find out that he is not a trustworthy narrator at all. (view spoiler)[I think the twist that he had been lying to everyone and was actually the Queen of Eddis' thief and relative and that he had stolen back the Hamiathes' Gift was wonderful, but not as told from his POV. I believe that should have been third-person or from someone else's POV. Because he wasn't just lying to his companions, he lied to the readers and I feel like it makes me question how much I can trust him in future books. Because I will be reading the rest. (hide spoiler)]["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>...more

Overall, this was a pretty underwhelming book. Personally, the only redeeming factor about this book was the ending, which was rather realistic and daOverall, this was a pretty underwhelming book. Personally, the only redeeming factor about this book was the ending, which was rather realistic and darker than I had expected. There is no fairytale happy ending here, instead, it’s all rather bittersweet.

I was already pretty iffy about this novel when I realized just how similar it was to Labyrinth (which is a huge guilty pleasure from my childhood. Who doesn’t love David Bowie in makeup and exaggerated hair dancing around in super tight leggings with an obvious bulge?). But The Goblin Market reads like Labyrinth with shades of The Iron King (I don't know which came first, Kagawa's book or Hudock's because I know Hudock had originally premiered this story as a podcast or something). At first I was willing to enjoy it for the ride, the adventure and the similarity to Labyrinth. But it was too similar.

If you're interested, here are the similarities to Labyrinth:(view spoiler)[1. Kothar is the Goblin King. Jareth (aka David Bowie) is the Goblin King.

3. Both Goblin Kings challenge the girls to take back their siblings, but don't think they'll make it to the castle.

4. Meredith needs to travel through the Darknjan Wald, which no one has ventured into and passed. Sarah needs to find her way through the labyrinth, which I'm also assuming no one makes it through, or at least hasn't in hundreds of years.

5. Meredith gets help from Gorigast, a minion of questionable loyalty. Sarah gets help from Hoggle, a creature of questionable loyalty.

6. Both Gorigast and Hoggle get threatened by the Goblin King (Kothar wants Gorigast to bring Meredith to the castle but kill Him, while Jareth wants Hoggle to make sure Sarah doesn't get to the castle), they both chicken out and decide not to "help" the girls and then change their minds later and go back to help them for realsy.

7. Meredith loses her memory, arrives at the castle and takes part in a masquerade ball, is dressed up like a princess and sort of charmed by the Goblin King before Gorigast finds her and she comes to her senses. Sarah gets trapped in a bubble where she loses her memory, is dressed up like a princess and takes part in a ball where she is sort of charmed by the Goblin King before she breaks out and is found by her friends, who help her regain her memories.

8. When Meredith finally remembers, she runs around the castle trying to find her sister and discovers that it's strangely reminiscent of an M.C. Escher painting with stairways going nowhere. Sarah finds herself in an M.C. Escher painting while she runs around, going up and down stairs, trying to find her brother. (hide spoiler)]

And then came the super cheesy insta-love. Nothing sours me on a book faster than poor romance that relies on insta-love. I’ve just become so sick of the plethora of books that use this crappy plot device to get to the romance, and The Goblin Market relies heavily on it when it comes to Meredith and Him.

For instance:

"... and though she knew they had barely known each other for the full cycle of one day, she felt as though they'd walked that forest together for the length of several lifetimes." (Emphasis mine)

"One night, and already she couldn't imagine a day apart from him. One night, and she was already thinking about forever."

Also, this is self published, so it's lacking some copy editing. There are periods in the middle of sentences, there are words incorrectly spelled and there were a few odd instances where a sentence had been changed halfway through but the original wording wasn't deleted. All in all, the actual text is very much readable, and these issues are not overwhelming.

Hudock isn't a bad writer, in fact she's pretty good. But I just couldn't get over the fact that the story she was telling was so similar to something that came out a quarter of a century ago. Oh, and that pesky insta-love nonsense.

If insta-love doesn’t bother you and you haven’t seen the movie Labyrinth, then The Goblin Market is going to seem like a really unique and fun ride.["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>...more